1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a steering drive system for a skid steer vehicle and a skid steer vehicle, for example, a tracked vehicle, outfitted therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Steering drive systems for skid steer vehicles in which a steering speed is superimposed on a translational traction drive for the vehicle are known from the prior art. Of these, diverse configurations are known which either use an independent drive for each wheel side of the skid steer vehicle or in which traction drives are superimposed via a central drive unit using differentials.
Examples of steering drive systems of this kind are described in DE 24 46 727 A1 and DE 2 009 255 A1.
Multi-circuit steering drive systems or steering drive systems offering steering drive redundancy are not currently known. Yet existing steering drive systems have the disadvantage that they cannot ensure a precise or unimpaired steerability of the vehicle in case of failure of a steering drive.
A very high expenditure on dimensioning, electronics and software is required in order to make cascaded electrical systems reliable in terms of system technology. Because of the large expenditure, it has not been possible heretofore to integrate any of these electric drives on a large scale in vehicles having a design-dependent maximum speed of over 52 km/h.